A Dish Best Served Cold
by demonwalker
Summary: When Shinji and Hikari meet again she begins to learn that somthing is very wrong with her old freind.


A Dish Best Served Cold  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Meeting Again  
  
  
  
Based on characters created by and copyright by GAINAX.  
  
A lone figure stood in front of a mirror looking down at a small white case. The only sound that could be heard was that of running water as the young man drew himself his morning bath. His eyes wondered to the mirror which had started to fog from the steam somewhat obstructing his view.  
  
At first glance one could only see a young man of seventeen standing there quietly, but on further examination one could see a maturity beyond his years. His countless battles were beginning to take it's toll on him. It had been three years since he had arrived in this city and he'd see it destroyed time and time again only to rebuilt over and over again. This metropolis that was Tokyo III. The city him and his comrades had started protect years ago when the first angel attacked them, but now it had been far to long the one's that were prophesied to come had come and they had destroyed them. Yet still more came, one after another after another and still they came.  
  
He frowned as he looked at the small case again knowing that once again he would have to put on a mask to the world. So much had changed since that fateful day he was returned to the world from which evangelion unit-01 had taken him from. He could still see Dr. Akagi's face when he had first opened his eyes after his return. The look of horror was still fresh in his mind. It had taken time, but thankfully she had helped him excepting that he was who he said he was and had provided him with what lay in that case to protect him from the world had anyone else learned of what happened to him upon his return to them. Sadly he was never able to thank her for it, she had been enprisoned soon after and had died when the U.N had attack Nevr headquarters.  
  
They had nearly lost that battle only saved when what was now called the "second wave" of angels had attacked. In a panic the U.N attacked with all it's forces including the MP eva's that had been sent to destroy them. They had taken the full brunt of the attack and where badly weaken. He had seen this as his chance to attack as the remain MP eva's where badly weakened as was the angel, together with unit-02 and Rei they were able to destroy their attackers but at a high price in both lives and in manpower.  
  
It had taken nearly a year to rebuild the city to what it once had been, and with new technologies they where able to make it even better then before. He still remembered all the bickering that had followed in the days after the new angels had made their presence know to the world. Unlike their predecessors they often attacked in pairs or had used a strategy. One in particular time they had first attacked as the others had before but it wasn't until days later did they find that prior to it attack another had begun to crawl it's way thought the very earth where it broke into the Geofront and nearly destroyed headquarters before it was stopped. When they searched and found the under ground monitors they found them infected by a virus similar to the one that had once attacked Nevr headquarters in the early days it's was that same living machine as it had been before and from the computer records on the information that was received from these monitors they learned that it had simply repeated what was normal back to the command center. That was why they nearly lost that battle having an angel both above and below ground to fight. Asuka and Rei had just barely survived that battle, with Shinji at the pilot training center he had not been there to help them.  
  
But that didn't matter anymore he let those thing drift out of his mind as he soaked in the bath water he had prepared for himself. He would soon be going in for his weekly sync test but for now he would just let the water soothe his body and soul. He was home again, but for some reason it didn't fell like home anymore.  
  
  
  
  
  
A few days later he was walking through the newly built college that he would be attending when he heard someone call his name,  
  
" Shinji? Shinji Ikari is that you?" came a female voice.  
  
Turning he saw a young lady running up to him from her sitting place by the fountain and walked towards her.  
  
"It is you! How have you been Shinji it's been such a long time since we last saw each other." she stated happily.  
  
" Do I know you miss? You seem familiar but I can't place the face." he asked lifting an eye brow.  
  
"It's me, Hikari Horaki. Are you attending this school now too?"  
  
He took a moment and looked at her and he was shocked that he didn't see it earlier. It was his old friend after all and from the way she looked she was even more beautiful then he remembered her being.  
  
"Hello Horaki-san how have you been? What's it been about a year now?" he asked .  
  
"Sure has. I'm doing alright, today's my first day so im a little nervous thou. So what are you studying here?"  
  
He blushed a little as he tired to tell her but gave up and handed her his class list. Watching as she reed it over before looking up at him.  
  
"Your studying to be a chef aren't you." she said as he blushed harder and nodded. "So am I we even have a class together..."  
  
"Hey Hikari who ya talking to?" came a second voice but unlike the first he knew just who it belonged to and he could be seen slowly backing away with his head down as if in shame.  
  
"Look Asuka Shinji's back from over sea's and he's even... " her voice trailed off as she turned and looked back at Shinji who was slowly moving away as if frighten by something.  
  
"Well if it isn't my old roommate Shinji Ikari, why are you here baka? Is he bothering you Hikari? I'll get rid of him for you." Asuka said as she made a move towards him." So Shinji, back to take all the glory of the war for yourself or did they finally see that your to much of a failure to even train the new pilots."  
  
Hikari watched as her friend belittled Shinji as she had since the day the to had meet. She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Asuka yell at him and curse in german ending it with a slap to to his face that looked more like a punch then anything else. She knew she didn't like him but not this much.  
  
"Even after all that's happened your still that sniveling little boy that you were when I first got here. I thought at least you could have grow a little spine but it seems I was right after all. You will always be a weakling Shinji." she said before turning and walking away.  
  
Hikari looked over at him before he turned and quietly walked away into the small garden and disappeared from view. She looked down at her hand and noticed she still had his class list, but as she began to move towards where he had gone she found she couldn't will herself to go to him even thou she knew that right now he could really use a friend.  
  
As she turned to walk to her first class she couldn't help but wonder why Asuka always did things like that to him he was always so nice so what would bring her friend to do this to him time and time again. She felt a little sorry for him, after Toji was killed when a building he was in at the time was crushed by unit-01 Asuka only had more ammo to use against him, Even though people had told him that there was no way he could have known he never forgave himself for killing him and if things stayed the same he probably never will.  
  
For the first time in months a frown crossed her face as she walked to class on that clear spring day. She had been so happy to see an old friend that she had forgotten about how well he and Asuka got along. She'd have to talk to him about her but for now she knew he needed to be alone.  
  
  
  
As Shinji walked though the small bush garden( note:somewhat like those garden maze but without the maze.) and sat down on a small bench after he was sure that Hikari and Auska could no longer see him his mind wandered back to the day Toji had been killed...  
  
"Hey man thanks for getting them to have me train here it just wouldn't be the same with you training your students and since i'm still new at this it could the help." Toji said.  
  
Toji had just arrived at the new training base in the U.S and the two where walking through one of the hangers and housed the transport planes.  
  
"I thought you didn't like piloting?" replied Shinji.  
  
"Well while I was in the hospital I heard about what had happened to you and got to thinking, but it was my sister who convinced me to give it another try."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"She found out about it from my parents when we where released and the whole time I was getting used to these she would tell me that I should try again. Since not many people can pilot it would only make it harder on you guys if I refused to pilot again. So once I got used to my prosthetics they as asked if I was willing to pilot again and well here I am."  
  
"It'll be nice to see a familiar face around."  
  
"So how may in the class by the way?" Toji asked  
  
"Just you and an American ." Shinji answered  
  
"Just two, that's it! All this just to train two pilots?"  
  
"Don't look so surprised this was the old branch of Nevr left in the U.S they have to do something with it after it was abandoned . So now it's a training center and testing grounds for the new evas'."  
  
"Well at least will get to hang out more now. So where we going by the way?"  
  
He watched as Shinji slid his key card in a reader and a door open to the lower levels. "It's time for my sync test i'll show you where they got us at." he replied before walking through the door.  
  
The day had gone pretty well and Toji was standing in one of the observation building outside as Shinji in unit-01 and The American he later learned was call Paul ( not me by the way) were performing some basic combat maneuvers when Paul's eva started to reject him and went out of control. Shinji did everything he could as he waited for the back up battery to run out,but it got off one good kick just a few seconds before the battery ran out.  
  
As he fell Shinji saw someone standing next to the window paralyzed by fear as he fell. He tried To control the fall but still landed close to where the person had been crushing the small building under the weight of the eva. It wasn't till the rumble had been clear did he find out who it had been. The week of Tojis' funeral he'd had avoided just about everyone that tried to talked to him. The only person he tried to talk to was Hikari who would just ask him to leave her alone for awhile. It had been the one of the worst weeks he could remember.  
  
  
  
Slowly Shinji stood up preparing to walk toward the main campus. As he reached into his pocket to get his class list he remembered handing it to Hikari. It had been both painful and good to see her again, he was just glad she was smiling again. He'd would have to get a replacement for it after his first class at least he remembered where it was. Carefully he lifted his bag and started on his way.  
  
As he reached the main gate to the science department where his first class was located he turned and look out towards the sea that could be seen out in the distant. ' Another one will be here soon.' he thought. 'I will have to fight again. It's to bad it looked to be a nice day.' And with that he walked into the build beginning his first day at college.  
  
  
  
Shinji hadn't been to surprised when the alarms started up about an hour into his science class it had been a welcome distraction from the topic at which had been the center of the classes attention. He had heard all he'd care to hear about how energy fields are affected but gravity in different ways the normal matter when Dr. Akagi had gone on about it for over an hour before the attack of the fifth angel. Now he was heading down to the men's locker room he would soon be piloting again in battle, it was not a day he was looking forward to. He had all he wanted before he left to help train the seventh child.  
  
As he opened the door he was surprised to find someone taking his plug suit out of his travel bag and lay it across the bench in front of him. He hadn't heard anything of them sending anyone.  
  
"Can I help you?" Shinji asked.  
  
He watched as the boy jumped apparently not noticing him. "You know it's not nice to seek up on people. My I asked way you are here? He asked.  
  
"Well there's going to be a battle so I need to suit up I don't went to ruin these clothes if I can help it." he responded.  
  
"Ah, so you must be Shinji Ikari. I take it you don't remember me then? It's to be expected given what happened that summer. My name is Paul Johnson,you were my trainer back in the states."  
  
Shinji thought about it after Toji's death he'd forgotten almost everything that happened that summer. But here was his only student in Japan. He had expected them to send him to Germany after what happened with his eva but it seemed not.  
  
"When did you get here?" he asked.  
  
"Just a few hours ago. I haven't even had a chance to see my apartment yet. Well now is not the time to speak of these things we need to get ready."  
  
And with that he turned and started to change and Shinji walked over to the other side to do the same.  
  
  
  
"The angel just shoed up on our grid about twenty minuets ago after that it been moving slowly towards our location." said Maya "From what we have been able to tell is that it a close quarters fighter from the way it arms are shaped so be on your guard."  
  
They four pilots watched as she brought up a display of the surrounding terrain." Shinji you and Rei will take up position here just out side the city and wait for it a move closed. Auska and Paul will take up position here you will engage at close quarter's after shinji and Rei snipe the target with the beam rifles. You will then take turns till it is destroyed Shinji and Rei will act as back up for this one. Any questions?"  
  
"Yeah, way isn't Shinji taking the point position?" Asuka asked.  
  
"He hasn't had an really battle for almost a year this will be a good warm up for him. Any more?"  
  
"I will be taking an offensive posture in this battle, is unit-08 ready for this level of combat." asked Rei.  
  
"Yes you should be alright Rei the A.T. Field of this unit is better than unit-00. Any more?" she said looking around.  
  
"Alright pilots get to your eva's please,and good luck."  
  
  
  
Deep with in a hidden complex seven men sit around a table discussing the past years events.  
  
"Our mole has successfully interrogated himself with Nevr's in Japan now all we have to do is wait." said one marked United States.  
  
"Yes,but do not forget what happened to our predecessors when they underestimated Nevr last time. We cannot afford for that to happen again."Said France.  
  
"True, we cannot be discovered this early or all will be lost." replied Germany.  
  
"We underestimated Gendo before we will not make that mistake again." replied England.  
  
"For now we will sit back and watch things unfold. When the time is right we will make our move." said China.  
  
"And what of the third child? He was the one interfered the most to the plan."asked Russia  
  
"I have set a plan in motion that will prevent his interference,it will not be a problem." stated Australia  
  
"Good. Now all we have to do is make sure he stays out of the way and it's done. Is there any other business to discus? Replied the chairmen.  
  
And with that they continued where they had left off a year ago this time with a new goal. With no one even aware that they were still there to do so. 


End file.
